Grounds for success

A local coffee roaster has supplied the Bay Area with beans since before Vallejo was a twinkle in Starbucks' eye.

Most Vallejoans could drive by Moschetti Espresso, nestled on a dead-end peninsula of Sixth Street off Curtola Parkway, and never notice it, if not for the aroma of roasting beans blanketing the neighborhood. But within the tucked-away coffee compound of two buildings and several converted shipping containers, Fabrice Moschetti and his employees keep about 300 Bay Area businesses in the beans. They include Vallejo's Zio Fraedo's and the Front Room and numerous San Francisco restaurants and caf\és.

"We still roast the artisan way," Moschetti said, using a 30-kilogram roaster that finishes a batch of beans in 15 to 20 minutes. Roasted beans are typically shipped to customers within three days for optimum flavor.

"We get coffee from pretty much everywhere," Moschetti said. The company specializes in organic and Fair Trade beans, which are produced according to economic and environmental standards with the goal of creating more equitable trading relationships.

Moschetti creates his own blends, but also does a lot of single-origin roasting, tempering the lightness or darkness of a roast to bring out the beans' best.

Nationwide, there are almost 2,000 coffee bean roasters, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, a coffee trade association.

The Bay Area has long been a hotbed of independent roasters, said Moschetti, an affable Frenchman who moved here from Nice about 20 years ago and briefly worked in the wine business before switching from grapes to beans.

"Me, I'm all for independent," he said. While he's not a fan of Starbucks, he gives credit to Peet's for its role in creating a widespread taste for specialty coffee.

People should drink what they like, Moschetti said, and not be beholden to someone else's tastes.

"I'm not a coffee Nazi," he said.

The company also sells espresso machines, and lends them to businesses that serve Moschetti coffee. It also provides maintenance and coffee-making training.

Occasionally, individual customers will ask for small custom-roasted batches, and Moschetti is happy to oblige. Hoping to expand that part of his business, Moschetti said he's considering opening a tasting room and offering occasional classes for do-it-yourself roasters.

For more information about custom roasting, call 556-9000 or visit www.moschetti.com.